ECI team to visit Telangana to takes decision on election

Courtesy : Agencies10/09/2018 08:27

Delhi/ The Election Commission has decided to send a team of officials to Hyderabad next week before it takes a decision on the timing of elections to the Telangana assembly that was dissolved yesterday.

“The Commission has decided to send a team of ECI officers to assess the situation in the state regarding poll preparedness,” a statement by the election body said on Friday after a meeting that took note of Telangana assembly’s dissolution yesterday.

A team of Election Commission officers headed by Umesh Sinha, senior Deputy Election Commissioner will be visiting Hyderabad on Tuesday and will give its report to the Commission after completion of the visit, the statement said.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had yesterday taken the opposition by surprise when he recommended dissolution of the state assembly and simultaneously announced 105 candidates of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. He launched his election campaign on Friday with a speech that claimed that his party had upheld Telangana’s self-respect in more ways than one.

The chief minister’s statement that he expected the state elections to be held along with the four other poll-bound states, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, however, was not taken very well by the poll body. Election commission officials said the senior politician should have steered clear of the election dates.

“We’ll assess if Telangana elections can be held with other four states. Any a strological predictions (over dates) made by anyone is notwithstanding, ”Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said when asked about the poll timing, reported news agency ANI.

Rawat’s reference to astrology was widely seen as a rare swipe at the chief minister, who is reported to have decided on the timing of the assembly’s dissolution on the recommendation of astrologers